


And yet, you won.

by deer_skull



Category: Original Work
Genre: Dragon Gods, Gen, Gods, Origin Story, don't murder gods children, its literally never a good idea, myth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-28 20:16:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21142577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deer_skull/pseuds/deer_skull
Summary: “The land is dry as a husk. You could see the dust unsettle with every footfall. They were welcomed into the city with open arms, but the welcome didn’t last forever. The arid land has become drier over time, removing all crops and hopes for food. The city's cries weren’t heard by the gods who live high above us. We had been forsaken by the ones we thought we could trust.The land is dry. We have no food. We are alone.”





	And yet, you won.

**Author's Note:**

> oh boy! First story on AO3!! Take some of my Ocs. Lyria, someone who is trying her best, and a bunch of angry gods!!

“The land is dry as a husk. You could see the dust unsettle with every footfall. They were welcomed into the city with open arms, but the welcome didn’t last forever. The arid land has become drier over time, removing all crops and hopes for food. The city's cries weren’t heard by the gods who live high above us. We had been forsaken by the ones we thought we could trust.  
The land is dry. We have no food. We are alone.”

Word of the message was sent out across the country. It came by boat to us. We found the letter hidden in a box, full of rancid food. This city had fallen, they weren’t the only ones. We were all gone. There was hardly anyone left in the city when I returned from the docks. They were all gone, the greater masses had left, looking for hope of something. The sea was being held under tight guard, it was our only water source, and it was poison to us. We had tried digging but there was nothing.   
As I reentered The city I saw the few men and women who remained. All the children were gone. They were all gone. Those who remained straggled around, trying to sell their meaningless objects and items, hoping that something would prove to be of value. The tower was the one place that still held. It was always cold near the tower, and many suspected its owner had connections to the gods. Sometimes, he came out to give us water, fresh, clean water. It's not often though, and we’re always left wondering when we are going to get more.   
A man approached me, he’s appearance was dusty. Everything here was dusty. He came up to me and said:   
“Has there been any news for other cities?” I handed him the note that we received, but it wasn’t the news we hoped for. He read it, and advised me to seek out the man who lives in the tower. The man who lives in the tower never speaks to outsiders, but I hoped that he’d speak to me, Lyria, the life seeker. I wandered down the streets of The Empty City, down past the body pits, into the courtyard of the tower. We had to assume the old bushes once were magnificent flowers, but none bloomed now. The man who lived in the tower knew of a time when the lakes had not run out. He knew of a time when we had water, but now all was dry.  
As I walked up the long, winding stairs I saw the city. It was empty. They were all gone. After ten stairs I looked out again and saw the city. It was empty. They were all gone. After 20 stairs I looked out again and saw the city. It was empty. They were all gone. After 40 stairs I looked out again and saw the city. It was empty. I walked for what seemed like miles, wandering ever higher into the sky, until the city was but a speck below me. I was so far up that I could see the heavens. This is where The man who lives in the tower must get the water, up, up in the heavens. The air thinned, and when I reached the top all I saw were stars. At the top of the tower, the heavens spread out above me. They were all I saw. I looked around more and saw an old man sitting in a rocking chair, gazing up at the sky. It was dark, but a candle was lit to give some light. Besides the candle, it was only the stars that gave off any light. I saw the man sitting in a rocking chair. He turned around to greet me with a smile that seemed to radiate light like everything else up here.  
“Welcome, Lyria. I see you’ve found your way up here with me,” he said   
“Yes,” I replied. “We all need help, our city is dying, we-” He cut me off with a small, barely audible tap of his foot on the stone roof of the tower. “I know of your plight, and I wish to help you, but first, you must do something for me.” I looked quizzically at the man, wondering what he could want from me.  
“I would love to help you, as long as my people are able to get water, and I recognition of what I’ve done for them, but first, I must ask you; who are you?”  
He smiled again, but this time, he’s smile was one that was shrouded in mystery.  
“I am Nir, the forsaken one. The Gods stole something from me, and I need you to get it back. Its the only way I will give you water.” He said to me  
“What did they steal?” I said. He laughed at my question, like the answer should be obvious.  
“They stole a star from me. Get me my star back and you will have all the water you want.” I let out a deep laugh. Pathetic, a star? This will be easy. Something that I can accomplish in a matter of days. I felt my chest swell with pride at the idea of bringing a star to Nir, bringing water to my people.   
I was given a bed to sleep in, and a drink that once consumed would allow me to travel into the Heavens, the land of the gods. I downed the elixir and waited until I wandered into their domain.   
Everything was the color of dusk and twilight. The stars shone bright with nothing to prevent them from showing. I walked around, looking for any clues to help me in my quest. There was nothing. It looked like I was walking on water, ripples formed with each footrest underneath me as I walked around, looking for anything to help me in my quest.  
15 miles into my wandering I stopped for rest. It was never bright here, but it was clean. bodies didn’t line the streets, and there was water. Plenty of water.   
30 miles into my wandering I noticed a clean spring. I drank my fill and then filled three canteens full of water for the road. I wondered why Nir didn’t come up here more often.   
45 miles into my wandering I saw the silhouette of a grand city. It floated above me, and I could see the gods moving and shifting inside their sanctum. The gleaming gods shown above me. But I wasn’t afraid.   
My plan was to march up to the Grand God, Sumara, and tell her that I demand Nir’s Star back, that I needed it to save my people, for I am Lyria, the life seeker.   
100 miles into my wandering I had made it. I stood under the god’s floating city. I looked up, and let out a quiet sob of relief. I was going to bring the star home, and save my people, and be noticed as a hero. I was ready, my plan was finally going into action. I was going to march up to the Grand God, Sumara, and tell her that I demand Nir’s Star back, that I needed it to save my people, for I am Lyria, the life seeker. I walked around, looking for an entrance, trying to find my way into the God's home. After hours of searching, I finally found it, a small silver staircase leading up into the God's home. I strut up the silver staircase, looking for the gods. The city was empty, and there was no one here, but it was all wrong.. The Gods should be here. I shook my head and called out in rage.  
“Where are you! I, Lyria, demand to speak with you!”   
There was a flutter of wings and a strong gust of wind as a great, silver, dragon swooped down from the ceiling to gaze down at me with a look of bemusement. Her cold golden eyes glared down at me, daring me to speak.  
“What do you want mortal?” She thundered. I stood my ground, not moving for a god like her.  
“I am Lyria, the life seeker, and I demand that you return Nir’s stolen star.” She merely laughed at my demand and moved her head lower to look me in the eyes.  
“That is a pitiful thing to be Demanding from a god, Lyria, the life seeker. Do you even know why his star was taken from him in the first place? Why he is called ‘the Forsaken one?’” I shook my head, I didn’t see why it was important.  
“Do you understand I have a city to save?” I asked angrily. The dragon only smiled, her teeth gleaming in the starlight.   
“Do you understand who Nir is? Because I don’t think you do. I will tell you, and maybe then will you understand why Nir is not someone who should be listened too.”   
Sumara settled down before me and began her tale.

“Once, long before you and your pitiful city was even something thought up by those who stand taller and greater than you will ever be, there were two powerful gods. There was me, Sumara, The Grand God, and Hetlem, the soft worded creator. There were no oceans, no lakes or rivers because we do not need them, it was just the two of us, in empty space. I remember the day well. The stars weren’t shining at all that day, and our only light was from out scales, but we didn’t mind. We wandered the Heavens, doing nothing in particular but enjoying each other's company. The stars weren’t shining at all, even when Hetlem had an Idea.  
“What If we weren’t the only beings up here?” he said to me. He sounded so desperate, so sad, that I had to listen to him. We flew to the top of the Heavens and picked out three stars, each to be the heart of someone new to the world. Nir was the first to be created, and the only star that managed to survive. The other two died out too fast to be of any use to us.  
Time doesn’t pass the same way around us, and so, even though to you it might have been meer days, for us it was years, and that was when Nir finally turned is back on us.   
“What if we weren’t the only beings up here?” Hetlem said to me again. He sounded so desperate, so sad, and I had to listen to him. We flew up to the highest point of Heaven, and found the brightest star, and made him into one of us. My Son.   
His star wasn’t strong enough though, and he almost left us. We begged Nir for his help, to lend his strength to make sure my Son could survive, but he thought he should decide who gets to live and who gets to die. He said he wasn’t going to help us, because It should just be us, us three, with no one else. We were the most powerful beings.  
“Being powerful means being alone” he said. He was a fool though. We ripped out his star and gave it to my son, to help him breathe life, to live.” I looked up at the Grand God, and said;  
“You rid a man of his godhood because he wouldn’t help you?” My tone was thick with disgust.  
“You removed the one thing that made him, him, because he wouldn’t listen to you?”   
Sumara glared at me once more and said  
“You do not understand, because you are not one of us. With my Son’s help, we created you, and your people. We brought you here.”   
“And yet you have doomed us,” I said, before turning my back on the Grand God, and making my way back to Nir, without his heart. 

After 15 miles the city was far behind me. It didn’t shift or move, it was stagnant. Just another thing that the gods have created.   
After 30 miles the stars had begun to dim, making everything so much darker.   
After 45 miles the ripping water beneath my feet started to grow more prominent. Dark circles spread throughout the sky that was also at my feet. Then I noticed why. A grand silver dragon flew above me. He was young, younger than Sumara, and he flirted and flitted about with ease. This must be the Son.   
After 100 miles, I made it back to the tower. Exhausted I collapsed at Nir’s feet, struggling to breathe. He looked at me scornfully, as if daring me to tell him why he didn’t have his star back. I wasn’t going to lie to him, so once I regained my composure I said;  
“Sumara isn’t going to give you your heart back. It belongs to her Son now.” He gave me a wicked smile and said  
“Then take it back. By force. If you want your city to have water, this is the only way.” I understood at once why he was being so cold, but I didn’t know how to remove a heart for a god.   
“Kill him if you must.” He said to me, “Kill him and rip out his heart, bring it to Sumara, and tell her that this was her fault, that now she knows what happens when you remove someone's heart.” I didn’t know how to respond. I wanted to be known as a hero, not a god slayer. Not a murderer of someone's Son. Nir strut over to me, his age not apparent in his posture. He bent over, whispering into my ear.  
“You want fame. You want to be known as the one who saved them all. This isn’t about your city anymore Lyria, this is about everything. You’ve seen it all. How everyone's gone. There is no one left, but it doesn’t have to be like that. You can bring everyone back if you do this for me.” Something in me clicked with Nir’s words. It all made sense to me. I had to go, kill him, kill him and rip out his heart and bring it to Sumara. Tell her this was her fault. That this is what happens when you remove someone's heart. I was to be known as a savor. Lyria, savor of the world. It all made sense. I stood up, and Nir gave me his wicked smile. He armed me with a pike, made from the ruins of the cities that had fallen without the gods help. It’s bronze and black blade seemed to yearn for the kill more than anything else. There were no horses, no ways of travel that were faster than my own two feet, so I began my trek once again through the dusky, starlight land of the Heavens. 

I traveled for six days and six nights, only stopping when I physically couldn’t move any further. I counted every second I traveled, counted the minutes, seconds, days that I wandered, looking for the Son. When I found him he was sleeping near one of the many lakes. It was surrounded by a cope of shadowy trees that blocked out any light from the stars. I snuck up behind him and gripped his neck. He struggled and flailed, losing any grace that he had in the sky. He snapped around, but I thrust my pike into his flank. He flailed and struggled, bleeding, losing any sense of dignity that he had. I thrust my pike into his gut, causing his body to spasm.   
He was finished with a break to the neck, and then he was gone. All gone.   
I set his body done, before lifting it over my shoulders, to carry to Sumara as Nir instructed. 

I strode up to the grand god, her silver scales were shining bright in the gleam of the stars that surrounded us. I was an unstoppable force, my drive for fame was greater than any others. I dropped the body of the younger dragon before her, his form twisted and bent. Sumara, the great god let out a reaching cry as she saw her son.   
“This was your fault,” I said to her, “this was you who did this. Now you know what happens when you remove someone's heart. Someone is bound to get hurt, and this time, it was you.”   
“You… Are a monster.” The Grand Dod’s voice remained calm, but I could see her fury and her hurt through her cold golden eyes. She paced up to me, staring me down, daring me to do anything. I just stood tall, my chest puffed out, showing that I was not afraid.   
“You are not worthy of anything. You deserve to rot, slowly, and let maggots devour your innards while you lie, screaming, begging for your forgiveness. You are no hero of the people Lyria, you are a destroy of ones who are loved.” As Sumara, the Grand God spoke I could see something pour down from her eyes, it fell from the ledge of heaven where we stood, down to the cities below us. It was water. Not salty like the sea, but clear, fresh. It bathed the city down below us, bringing the crops back to life, giving the citizens hope of a brighter tomorrow.   
There was no hope for me though. Sumara stood up, and let out a head-splitting roar. She turned her golden eyes to face me and I felt fear, real fear. For the first time in my life, I was afraid of what was to happen to me.   
The Grand God snapped her head down, tearing into my shoulder. I felt her maw tearing and ripping my shoulder as blood leaked from the open wound. I wanted to scream but no sound came out. Then she attacked me again, this time clawing at my chest, ripping it to shreds. I wanted to scream, but no sound came out. Then a third time, and a fourth, and a fifth, until I was as bent and broken as her son. As the world around me darkened to black, I heard her last words uttered to me through a haze of white noise.  
“You will be remembered as the one who destroyed the innocent for your own gain…. And yet, you won. You won..”

And I was gone. All of me was gone. 

What wasn’t heard was the rest of Sumara’s words. This was what she spoke  
“You will be remembered as the one destroyed the innocent for your own gain…. And yet, you won. You won. The rains will fall from my eyes, and from the eyes of all the other gods who are hurt by my Son’s death. Nir will get his heart back, but it is ripped and torn and shredded. It will rain from there too. The crops will grow, and the people will come back, but you are gone. All gone. There is nothing left of you here or there. You will rot, and no one will remember what you have done. But in the end, you got what you wanted. You wanted water. You wanted your people to survive, and they did. You Won.”


End file.
